Collaboration tools

ABSTRACT

An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) supports collaborative tools that allow multiple designers and programmers to remotely submit design input to the same automation system project in parallel while maintaining project consistency. These collaborative features can include, for example, brokering between different sets of design input directed to the same portion of the system project, generating notifications to remote designers when a portion of the system project is modified, sharing of development interfaces or environments, facilitating involvement of outside technical support experts to assist with design issues, and other collaborative features.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to industrialautomation systems, and, for example, to industrial programmingdevelopment platforms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects described herein. This summary is not anextensive overview nor is intended to identify key/critical elements orto delineate the scope of the various aspects described herein. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

In one or more embodiments, a system for collaboratively developingindustrial applications is provided, comprising a user interfacecomponent configured to render integrated development environment (IDE)interfaces on respective client devices and to receive, via interactionwith the IDE interfaces, industrial design input that defines aspects ofan industrial automation control project; a project generation componentconfigured to generate system project data based on the industrialdesign input; and a collaboration management component configured tobroker between multiple sets of the industrial design input submittedvia different client devices of the client devices for inclusion in thesystem project data.

Also, one or more embodiments provide a method for collaborativedevelopment of industrial control applications, comprising rendering, bya system comprising a processor, integrated development environment(IDE) interfaces on respective client devices; receiving, by the systemvia interaction with the IDE interfaces, industrial design inputreceived from the client devices that defines aspects of an industrialcontrol and monitoring project; generating, by the system, systemproject data based on the industrial design input; and selecting, by thesystem, from among multiple sets of the industrial design inputsubmitted via the respective client devices for inclusion in the systemproject data.

Also, according to one or more embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium is provided having stored thereon instructionsthat, in response to execution, cause a system to perform operations,the operations comprising rendering integrated development environment(IDE) interfaces on respective client devices; receiving, viainteraction with the IDE interfaces, industrial design input receivedfrom the client devices that defines aspects of an industrial automationproject; generating system project data based on the industrial designinput; and brokering between multiple sets of the industrial designinput submitted via the respective client devices for integration intothe system project data.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects are described herein in connection with thefollowing description and the annexed drawings. These aspects areindicative of various ways which can be practiced, all of which areintended to be covered herein. Other advantages and novel features maybecome apparent from the following detailed description when consideredin conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example industrial control environment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example integrated developmentenvironment (IDE) system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a generalized architecture of anindustrial IDE system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating several example automation objectproperties that can be leveraged by the IDE system in connection withbuilding, deploying, and executing a system project.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating example data flows associated withcreation of a system project for an automation system being designedusing an industrial IDE system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example system project thatincorporates automation objects into a project model.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating commissioning of a system project.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example architecture in whichcloud-based IDE services are used to develop and deploy industrialapplications to a plant environment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating multi-tenancy of the cloud-basedindustrial IDE services in which different remote client devicesleverage centralized industrial IDE services to individually submitdesign input directed to a common system project.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating multi-tenancy of cloud-basedindustrial IDE services in which respective client devices are permittedto separately customize their own development environment interfaces.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating mediation or brokering betweendifferent sets of design input directed to the same aspect of a systemproject.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating interactions between a version ofcontrol code being tested and an automation system model.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating distribution of update notificationsto selected developers in response to receipt of a proposed designmodification from another developer.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the use of IDE services as a proxybetween a plant-based project developer and remote technical supportpersonnel.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating example data flows associated withcreation of a system project for an automation system based on a user'sinteractions with a VR presentation of a plant.

FIG. 16 a is a partial rendition of an example virtual realitypresentation depicting a first-person perspective of an industrial area,which can be generated by a virtual rendering component of an industrialIDE system.

FIG. 16 b is a rendition of another example virtual reality presentationdepicting an external perspective of an industrial area, which can alsobe generated by the virtual rendering component.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example methodology for managing designcontributions from multiple developers of an industrial automationsystem project.

FIG. 18 notifying developers of modifications to an automation systemproject within a collaborative development environment.

FIG. 19 is an example computing environment.

FIG. 20 is an example networking environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the subjectdisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate a description thereof.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “layer,” “controller,” “terminal,” “station,” “node,”“interface” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity or anentity related to, or that is part of, an operational apparatus with oneor more specific functionalities, wherein such entities can be eitherhardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or softwarein execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical or magnetic storage medium)including affixed (e.g., screwed or bolted) or removable affixedsolid-state storage drives; an object; an executable; a thread ofexecution; a computer-executable program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a server and the server canbe a component. One or more components can reside within a processand/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,components as described herein can execute from various computerreadable storage media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry which is operated by asoftware or a firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can include a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that provides at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. As further yet another example, interface(s)can include input/output (I/O) components as well as associatedprocessor, application, or Application Programming Interface (API)components. While the foregoing examples are directed to aspects of acomponent, the exemplified aspects or features also apply to a system,platform, interface, layer, controller, terminal, and the like.

As used herein, the terms “to infer” and “inference” refer generally tothe process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended to mean anyof the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “X employs Aor B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

Furthermore, the term “set” as employed herein excludes the empty set;e.g., the set with no elements therein. Thus, a “set” in the subjectdisclosure includes one or more elements or entities. As anillustration, a set of controllers includes one or more controllers; aset of data resources includes one or more data resources; etc.Likewise, the term “group” as utilized herein refers to a collection ofone or more entities; e.g., a group of nodes refers to one or morenodes.

Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems thatmay include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may includeadditional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include allof the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection withthe figures. A combination of these approaches also can be used.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example industrial control environment100. In this example, a number of industrial controllers 118 aredeployed throughout an industrial plant environment to monitor andcontrol respective industrial systems or processes relating to productmanufacture, machining, motion control, batch processing, materialhandling, or other such industrial functions. Industrial controllers 118typically execute respective control programs to facilitate monitoringand control of industrial devices 120 making up the controlledindustrial assets or systems (e.g., industrial machines). One or moreindustrial controllers 118 may also comprise a soft controller executedon a personal computer or other hardware platform, or on a cloudplatform. Some hybrid devices may also combine controller functionalitywith other functions (e.g., visualization). The control programsexecuted by industrial controllers 118 can comprise substantially anytype of code capable of processing input signals read from theindustrial devices 120 and controlling output signals generated by theindustrial controllers 118, including but not limited to ladder logic,sequential function charts, function block diagrams, or structured text.

Industrial devices 120 may include both input devices that provide datarelating to the controlled industrial systems to the industrialcontrollers 118, and output devices that respond to control signalsgenerated by the industrial controllers 118 to control aspects of theindustrial systems. Example input devices can include telemetry devices(e.g., temperature sensors, flow meters, level sensors, pressuresensors, etc.), manual operator control devices (e.g., push buttons,selector switches, etc.), safety monitoring devices (e.g., safety mats,safety pull cords, light curtains, etc.), and other such devices. Outputdevices may include motor drives, pneumatic actuators, signalingdevices, robot control inputs, valves, pumps, and the like.

Industrial controllers 118 may communicatively interface with industrialdevices 120 over hardwired or networked connections. For example,industrial controllers 118 can be equipped with native hardwired inputsand outputs that communicate with the industrial devices 120 to effectcontrol of the devices. The native controller I/O can include digitalI/O that transmits and receives discrete voltage signals to and from thefield devices, or analog I/O that transmits and receives analog voltageor current signals to and from the devices. The controller I/O cancommunicate with a controller's processor over a backplane such that thedigital and analog signals can be read into and controlled by thecontrol programs. Industrial controllers 118 can also communicate withindustrial devices 120 over a network using, for example, acommunication module or an integrated networking port. Exemplarynetworks can include the Internet, intranets, Ethernet, DeviceNet,ControlNet, Data Highway and Data Highway Plus (DH/DH+), Remote I/O,Fieldbus, Modbus, Profibus, wireless networks, serial protocols, and thelike. The industrial controllers 118 can also store persisted datavalues that can be referenced by their associated control programs andused for control decisions, including but not limited to measured orcalculated values representing operational states of a controlledmachine or process (e.g., tank levels, positions, alarms, etc.) orcaptured time series data that is collected during operation of theautomation system (e.g., status information for multiple points in time,diagnostic occurrences, etc.). Similarly, some intelligentdevices—including but not limited to motor drives, instruments, orcondition monitoring modules—may store data values that are used forcontrol and/or to visualize states of operation. Such devices may alsocapture time-series data or events on a log for later retrieval andviewing.

Industrial automation systems often include one or more human-machineinterfaces (HMIs) 114 that allow plant personnel to view telemetry andstatus data associated with the automation systems, and to control someaspects of system operation. HMIs 114 may communicate with one or moreof the industrial controllers 118 over a plant network 116, and exchangedata with the industrial controllers to facilitate visualization ofinformation relating to the controlled industrial processes on one ormore pre-developed operator interface screens. HMIs 114 can also beconfigured to allow operators to submit data to specified data tags ormemory addresses of the industrial controllers 118, thereby providing ameans for operators to issue commands to the controlled systems (e.g.,cycle start commands, device actuation commands, etc.), to modifysetpoint values, etc. HMIs 114 can generate one or more display screensthrough which the operator interacts with the industrial controllers118, and thereby with the controlled processes and/or systems. Exampledisplay screens can visualize present states of industrial systems ortheir associated devices using graphical representations of theprocesses that display metered or calculated values, employ color orposition animations based on state, render alarm notifications, oremploy other such techniques for presenting relevant data to theoperator. Data presented in this manner is read from industrialcontrollers 118 by HMIs 114 and presented on one or more of the displayscreens according to display formats chosen by the HMI developer. HMIsmay comprise fixed location or mobile devices with either user-installedor pre-installed operating systems, and either user-installed orpre-installed graphical application software.

Some industrial environments may also include other systems or devicesrelating to specific aspects of the controlled industrial systems. Thesemay include, for example, a data historian 110 that aggregates andstores production information collected from the industrial controllers118 or other data sources, device documentation stores containingelectronic documentation for the various industrial devices making upthe controlled industrial systems, inventory tracking systems, workorder management systems, repositories for machine or process drawingsand documentation, vendor product documentation storage, vendorknowledgebases, internal knowledgebases, work scheduling applications,or other such systems, some or all of which may reside on an officenetwork 108 of the industrial environment.

Higher-level systems 126 may carry out functions that are less directlyrelated to control of the industrial automation systems on the plantfloor, and instead are directed to long term planning, high-levelsupervisory control, analytics, reporting, or other such high-levelfunctions. These systems 126 may reside on the office network 108 at anexternal location relative to the plant facility, or on a cloud platformwith access to the office and/or plant networks. Higher-level systems126 may include, but are not limited to, cloud storage and analysissystems, big data analysis systems, manufacturing execution systems,data lakes, reporting systems, etc. In some scenarios, applicationsrunning at these higher levels of the enterprise may be configured toanalyze control system operational data, and the results of thisanalysis may be fed back to an operator at the control system ordirectly to a controller 118 or device 120 in the control system.

The various control, monitoring, and analytical devices that make up anindustrial environment must be programmed or configured using respectiveconfiguration applications specific to each device. For example,industrial controllers 118 are typically configured and programmed usinga control programming development application such as a ladder logiceditor (e.g., executing on a client device 124). Using such developmentplatforms, a designer can write control programming (e.g., ladder logic,structured text, function block diagrams, etc.) for carrying out adesired industrial sequence or process and download the resultingprogram files to the controller 118. Separately, developers designvisualization screens and associated navigation structures for HMIs 114using an HMI development platform (e.g., executing on client device 122)and download the resulting visualization files to the HMI 114. Someindustrial devices 120—such as motor drives, telemetry devices, safetyinput devices, etc.—may also require configuration using separate deviceconfiguration tools (e.g., executing on client device 128) that arespecific to the device being configured. Such device configuration toolsmay be used to set device parameters or operating modes (e.g., high/lowlimits, output signal formats, scale factors, energy consumption modes,etc.).

The necessity of using separate configuration tools to program andconfigure disparate aspects of an industrial automation system resultsin a piecemeal design approach whereby different but related oroverlapping aspects of an automation system are designed, configured,and programmed separately on different development environments. Forexample, a motion control system may require an industrial controller tobe programmed and a control loop to be tuned using a control logicprogramming platform, a motor drive to be configured using anotherconfiguration platform, and an associated HMI to be programmed using avisualization development platform. Related peripheral systems—such asvision systems, safety systems, etc.—may also require configurationusing separate programming or development applications.

This segregated development approach can also necessitate considerabletesting and debugging efforts to ensure proper integration of theseparately configured system aspects. In this regard, intended datainterfacing or coordinated actions between the different system aspectsmay require significant debugging due to a failure to properlycoordinate disparate programming efforts.

Industrial development platforms are also limited in their ability tosupport a collaborative development environment that allows multipledevelopers to work on a given automation system project in parallel.

To address at least some of these or other issues, one or moreembodiments described herein provide an integrated developmentenvironment (IDE) for designing, programming, and configuring multipleaspects of an industrial automation system using a common designenvironment and data model. Embodiments of the industrial IDE can beused to configure and manage automation system devices in a common way,facilitating integrated, multi-discipline programming of control,visualization, and other aspects of the control system.

In general, the industrial IDE supports features that span the fullautomation lifecycle, including design (e.g., device selection andsizing, controller programming, visualization development, deviceconfiguration, testing, etc.); installation, configuration andcommissioning; operation, improvement, and administration; andtroubleshooting, expanding, and upgrading.

Embodiments of the industrial IDE can include a library of modular codeand visualizations that are specific to industry verticals and commonindustrial applications within those verticals. These code andvisualization modules can simplify development and shorten thedevelopment cycle, while also supporting consistency and reuse across anindustrial enterprise.

Cloud-based embodiments of the industrial IDE can also supportcollaborative tools that allow multiple designers and programmers toremotely submit design input to the same automation system project inparallel while maintaining project consistency. These collaborativefeatures can include, for example, brokering between different sets ofdesign input directed to the same portion of the system project,generating notifications to remote designers when a portion of thesystem project is modified, sharing of development interfaces orenvironments, facilitating involvement of outside technical supportexperts to assist with design issues, or other such features.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example integrated developmentenvironment (IDE) system 202 according to one or more embodiments ofthis disclosure. Aspects of the systems, apparatuses, or processesexplained in this disclosure can constitute machine-executablecomponents embodied within machine(s), e.g., embodied in one or morecomputer-readable mediums (or media) associated with one or moremachines. Such components, when executed by one or more machines, e.g.,computer(s), computing device(s), automation device(s), virtualmachine(s), etc., can cause the machine(s) to perform the operationsdescribed.

IDE system 202 can include a user interface component 204 including anIDE editor 224, a project generation component 206, a project deploymentcomponent 208, a collaboration management component 210, a simulationcomponent 212, a proxy component 214, a virtual rendering component 216,one or more processors 218, and memory 220. In various embodiments, oneor more of the user interface component 204, project generationcomponent 206, project deployment component 208, collaborationmanagement component 210, simulation component 212, proxy component 214,virtual rendering component 216, the one or more processors 218, andmemory 220 can be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to oneanother to perform one or more of the functions of the IDE system 202.In some embodiments, components 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, and 216can comprise software instructions stored on memory 220 and executed byprocessor(s) 218. IDE system 202 may also interact with other hardwareand/or software components not depicted in FIG. 2 . For example,processor(s) 218 may interact with one or more external user interfacedevices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a display monitor, a touchscreen,or other such interface devices.

User interface component 204 can be configured to receive user input andto render output to the user in any suitable format (e.g., visual,audio, tactile, etc.). In some embodiments, user interface component 204can be configured to communicatively interface with an IDE client thatexecutes on a client device (e.g., a laptop computer, tablet computer,smart phone, etc.) that is communicatively connected to the IDE system202 (e.g., via a hardwired or wireless connection). The user interfacecomponent 204 can then receive user input data and render output datavia the IDE client. In other embodiments, user interface component 314can be configured to generate and serve suitable interface screens to aclient device (e.g., program development screens), and exchange data viathese interface screens. Input data that can be received via variousembodiments of user interface component 204 can include, but is notlimited to, programming code, industrial design specifications or goals,engineering drawings, AR/VR input, DSL definitions, video or image data,or other such input. Output data rendered by various embodiments of userinterface component 204 can include program code, programming feedback(e.g., error and highlighting, coding suggestions, etc.), programmingand visualization development screens, etc.

Project generation component 206 can be configured to create a systemproject comprising one or more project files based on design inputreceived via the user interface component 204, as well as industrialknowledge, predefined code modules and visualizations, and automationobjects 222 maintained by the IDE system 202. Project deploymentcomponent 208 can be configured to commission the system project createdby the project generation component 206 to appropriate industrialdevices (e.g., controllers, HMI terminals, motor drives, AR/VR systems,etc.) for execution. To this end, project deployment component 208 canidentify the appropriate target devices to which respective portions ofthe system project should be sent for execution, translate theserespective portions to formats understandable by the target devices, anddeploy the translated project components to their corresponding devices.

Collaboration management component 210 can be configured to manage andregulate design input submitted by multiple developers in a manner thatensures project consistency and coordination between developers.Simulation component 212 can be configured to perform test simulationson different versions of design input directed to a common aspect of asystem project and submit the results to the collaboration managementcomponent 210 for the purposes of selecting between the different designideas for inclusion in the system project. Proxy component 214 can beconfigured to manage connectivity and sharing of project informationbetween developers and remote technical support.

Virtual rendering component 210 can be configured to render—via userinterface component 204—a virtual reality (VR) presentation of anindustrial facility or installation area on a user's wearable appliance,and translate user interactions with the VR presentation. The VRpresentation can be generated based on a digital plant model stored onthe IDE system 202. The user's interactions with the VR presentation canbe interpreted as design specifications for a new automation system, orspecifications for modifying the design or operation of an existingautomation system, and translated to project data satisfying the designspecifications by the project generation component 206. This projectdata can include, for example, controller code; visualization objects,dashboards, or mashups; device configurations; bills of materials;equipment recommendations; engineering drawings; or other such projectcomponents.

The one or more processors 218 can perform one or more of the functionsdescribed herein with reference to the systems and/or methods disclosed.Memory 220 can be a computer-readable storage medium storingcomputer-executable instructions and/or information for performing thefunctions described herein with reference to the systems and/or methodsdisclosed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a generalized architecture of theindustrial IDE system 202 according to one or more embodiments.Industrial IDE system 202 can implement a common set of services andworkflows spanning not only design, but also commissioning, operation,and maintenance. In terms of design, the IDE system 202 can support notonly industrial controller programming and HMI development, but alsosizing and selection of system components, device/system configuration,AR/VR visualizations, and other features. The IDE system 202 can alsoinclude tools that simplify and automate commissioning of the resultingproject and assist with subsequent administration of the deployed systemduring runtime.

Embodiments of the IDE system 202 that are implemented on a cloudplatform also facilitate collaborative project development wherebymultiple developers 304 contribute design and programming input to acommon automation system project 302. Collaborative tools supported bythe IDE system can manage design contributions from the multiplecontributors and perform version control of the aggregate system project302 to ensure project consistency. Collaborative features supported bythe industrial IDE system are described in more detail herein.

Based on design and programming input from one or more developers 304,IDE system 202 generates a system project 302 comprising one or moreproject files. The system project 302 encodes one or more of controlprogramming; HMI, AR, and/or VR visualizations; device or sub-systemconfiguration data (e.g., drive parameters, vision systemconfigurations, telemetry device parameters, safety zone definitions,etc.); or other such aspects of an industrial automation system beingdesigned. IDE system 202 can identify the appropriate target devices 306on which respective aspects of the system project 302 should be executed(e.g., industrial controllers, HMI terminals, variable frequency drives,safety devices, etc.), translate the system project 302 to executablefiles that can be executed on the respective target devices, and deploythe executable files to their corresponding target devices 306 forexecution, thereby commissioning the system project 302 to the plantfloor for implementation of the automation project.

To support enhanced development capabilities, some embodiments of IDEsystem 202 can be built on an object-based data model rather than atag-based architecture. Automation objects 222 serve as the buildingblock for this object-based development architecture. FIG. 4 is adiagram illustrating several example automation object properties thatcan be leveraged by the IDE system 202 in connection with building,deploying, and executing a system project 302. Automation objects 222can be created and augmented during design, integrated into larger datamodels, and consumed during runtime. These automation objects 222provide a common data structure across the IDE system 202 and can bestored in an object library (e.g., part of memory 220) for reuse. Theobject library can store predefined automation objects 222 representingvarious classifications of real-world industrial assets 402, includingbut not limited to pumps, tanks, values, motors, motor drives (e.g.,variable frequency drives), industrial robots, actuators (e.g.,pneumatic or hydraulic actuators), or other such assets. Automationobjects 222 can represent elements at substantially any level of anindustrial enterprise, including individual devices, machines made up ofmany industrial devices and components (some of which may be associatedwith their own automation objects 222), and entire production lines orprocess control systems.

An automation object 222 for a given type of industrial asset can encodesuch aspects as 2D or 3D visualizations, alarms, control coding (e.g.,logic or other type of control programming), analytics, startupprocedures, testing protocols, validation reports, simulations,schematics, security protocols, and other such properties associatedwith the industrial asset 402 represented by the object 222. Automationobjects 222 can also be geotagged with location information identifyingthe location of the associated asset. During runtime of the systemproject 302, the automation object 222 corresponding to a givenreal-world asset 402 can also record status or operational history datafor the asset. In general, automation objects 222 serve as programmaticrepresentations of their corresponding industrial assets 402 and can beincorporated into a system project 302 as elements of control code, a 2Dor 3D visualization, a knowledgebase or maintenance guidance system forthe industrial assets, or other such aspects.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating example data flows associated withcreation of a system project 302 for an automation system being designedusing IDE system 202 according to one or more embodiments. A clientdevice 504 (e.g., a laptop computer, tablet computer, desktop computer,mobile device, wearable AR/VR appliance, etc.) executing an IDE clientapplication 514 can access the IDE system's project development toolsand leverage these tools to create a comprehensive system project 302for an automation system being developed. Through interaction with thesystem's user interface component 204, developers can submit designinput 512 to the IDE system 202 in various supported formats, includingindustry-specific control programming (e.g., control logic, structuredtext, sequential function charts, etc.) and HMI screen configurationinput. Based on this design input 512 and information stored in anindustry knowledgebase (predefined code modules 508 and visualizations510, guardrail templates 506, physics-based rules 516, etc.), userinterface component 204 renders design feedback 518 designed to assistthe developer in connection with developing a system project 302 forconfiguration, control, and visualization of an industrial automationsystem.

In addition to control programming and visualization definitions, someembodiments of IDE system 202 can be configured to receive digitalengineering drawings (e.g., computer-aided design (CAD) files) as designinput 512. In such embodiments, project generation component 206 cangenerate portions of the system project 302—e.g., by automaticallygenerating control and/or visualization code—based on analysis ofexisting design drawings. Drawings that can be submitted as design input512 can include, but are not limited to, P&ID drawings, mechanicaldrawings, flow diagrams, or other such documents. For example, a P&IDdrawing can be imported into the IDE system 202, and project generationcomponent 206 can identify elements (e.g., tanks, pumps, etc.) andrelationships therebetween conveyed by the drawings. Project generationcomponent 206 can associate or map elements identified in the drawingswith appropriate automation objects 222 corresponding to these elements(e.g., tanks, pumps, etc.) and add these automation objects 222 to thesystem project 302. The device-specific and asset-specific automationobjects 222 include suitable code and visualizations to be associatedwith the elements identified in the drawings. In general, the IDE system202 can examine one or more different types of drawings (mechanical,electrical, piping, etc.) to determine relationships between devices,machines, and/or assets (including identifying common elements acrossdifferent drawings) and intelligently associate these elements withappropriate automation objects 222, code modules 508, and/orvisualizations 510. The IDE system 202 can leverage physics-based rules516 as well as pre-defined code modules 508 and visualizations 510 asnecessary in connection with generating code or project data for systemproject 302.

The IDE system 202 can also determine whether pre-defined visualizationcontent is available for any of the objects discovered in the drawingsand generate appropriate HMI screens or AR/VR content for the discoveredobjects based on these pre-defined visualizations. To this end, the IDEsystem 202 can store industry-specific, asset-specific, and/orapplication-specific visualizations 510 that can be accessed by theproject generation component 206 as needed. These visualizations 510 canbe classified according to industry or industrial vertical (e.g.,automotive, food and drug, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, etc.), type ofindustrial asset (e.g., a type of machine or industrial device), a typeof industrial application (e.g., batch processing, flow control, webtension control, sheet metal stamping, water treatment, etc.), or othersuch categories. Predefined visualizations 510 can comprisevisualizations in a variety of formats, including but not limited to HMIscreens or windows, mashups that aggregate data from multiplepre-specified sources, AR overlays, VR objects representing 3Dvirtualizations of the associated industrial asset, or other suchvisualization formats. IDE system 202 can select a suitablevisualization for a given object based on a predefined associationbetween the object type and the visualization content.

In another example, markings applied to an engineering drawing by a usercan be understood by some embodiments of the project generationcomponent 206 to convey a specific design intention or parameter. Forexample, a marking in red pen can be understood to indicate a safetyzone, two circles connected by a dashed line can be interpreted as agearing relationship, and a bold line may indicate a cammingrelationship. In this way, a designer can sketch out design goals on anexisting drawing in a manner that can be understood and leveraged by theIDE system 202 to generate code and visualizations. In another example,the project generation component 206 can learn permissives andinterlocks (e.g., valves and their associated states) that serve asnecessary preconditions for starting a machine based on analysis of theuser's CAD drawings. Project generation component 206 can generate anysuitable code (ladder logic, function blocks, etc.), deviceconfigurations, and visualizations based on analysis of these drawingsand markings for incorporation into system project 302. In someembodiments, user interface component 204 can include design tools fordeveloping engineering drawings within the IDE platform itself, and theproject generation component 206 can generate this code as a backgroundprocess as the user is creating the drawings for a new project. In someembodiments, project generation component 206 can also translate statemachine drawings to a corresponding programming sequence, yielding atleast skeletal code that can be enhanced by the developer withadditional programming details as needed.

Also, or in addition, some embodiments of IDE system 202 can supportgoal-based automated programming. For example, the user interfacecomponent 204 can allow the user to specify production goals for anautomation system being designed (e.g., specifying that a bottling plantbeing designed must be capable of producing at least 5000 bottles persecond during normal operation) and any other relevant designconstraints applied to the design project (e.g., budget limitations,available floor space, available control cabinet space, etc.). Based onthis information, the project generation component 206 will generateportions of the system project 302 to satisfy the specified design goalsand constraints. Portions of the system project 302 that can begenerated in this manner can include, but are not limited to, device andequipment selections (e.g., definitions of how many pumps, controllers,stations, conveyors, drives, or other assets will be needed to satisfythe specified goal), associated device configurations (e.g., tuningparameters, network settings, drive parameters, etc.), control coding,or HMI screens suitable for visualizing the automation system beingdesigned.

Some embodiments of the project generation component 206 can alsogenerate at least some of the project code for system project 302 basedon knowledge of parts that have been ordered for the project beingdeveloped. This can involve accessing the customer's account informationmaintained by an equipment vendor to identify devices that have beenpurchased for the project. Based on this information the projectgeneration component 206 can add appropriate automation objects 222 andassociated code modules 508 corresponding to the purchased assets,thereby providing a starting point for project development.

Some embodiments of project generation component 206 can also monitorcustomer-specific design approaches for commonly programmed functions(e.g., pumping applications, batch processes, palletizing operations,etc.) and generate recommendations for design modules (e.g., codemodules 508, visualizations 510, etc.) that the user may wish toincorporate into a current design project based on an inference of thedesigner's goals and learned approaches to achieving the goal. To thisend, some embodiments of project generation component 206 can beconfigured to monitor design input 512 over time and, based on thismonitoring, learn correlations between certain design actions (e.g.,addition of certain code modules or snippets to design projects,selection of certain visualizations, etc.) and types of industrialassets, industrial sequences, or industrial processes being designed.Project generation component 206 can record these learned correlationsand generate recommendations during subsequent project developmentsessions based on these correlations. For example, if project generationcomponent 206 determines, based on analysis of design input 512, that adesigner is currently developing a control project involving a type ofindustrial equipment that has been programmed and/or visualized in thepast in a repeated, predictable manner, the project generation component206 can instruct user interface component 204 to render recommendeddevelopment steps or code modules 508 the designer may wish toincorporate into the system project 302 based on how this equipment wasconfigured and/or programmed in the past.

In some embodiments, IDE system 202 can also store and implementguardrail templates 506 that define design guardrails intended to ensurethe project's compliance with internal or external design standards.Based on design parameters defined by one or more selected guardrailtemplates 506, user interface component 204 can provide, as a subset ofdesign feedback 518, dynamic recommendations or other types of feedbackdesigned to guide the developer in a manner that ensures compliance ofthe system project 302 with internal or external requirements orstandards (e.g., certifications such as TUV certification, in-housedesign standards, industry-specific or vertical-specific designstandards, etc.). This feedback 518 can take the form of text-basedrecommendations (e.g., recommendations to rewrite an indicated portionof control code to comply with a defined programming standard), syntaxhighlighting, error highlighting, auto-completion of code snippets, orother such formats. In this way, IDE system 202 can customize designfeedback 518—including programming recommendations, recommendations ofpredefined code modules 508 or visualizations 510, error and syntaxhighlighting, etc.—in accordance with the type of industrial systembeing developed and any applicable in-house design standards.

Guardrail templates 506 can also be designed to maintain compliance withglobal best practices applicable to control programming or other aspectsof project development. For example, user interface component 204 maygenerate and render an alert if a developer's control programing isdeemed to be too complex as defined by criteria specified by one or moreguardrail templates 506. Since different verticals (e.g., automotive,pharmaceutical, oil and gas, food and drug, marine, etc.) must adhere todifferent standards and certifications, the IDE system 202 can maintaina library of guardrail templates 506 for different internal and externalstandards and certifications, including customized user-specificguardrail templates 506. These guardrail templates 506 can be classifiedaccording to industrial vertical, type of industrial application, plantfacility (in the case of custom in-house guardrail templates 506) orother such categories. During development, project generation component206 can select and apply a subset of guardrail templates 506 determinedto be relevant to the project currently being developed, based on adetermination of such aspects as the industrial vertical to which theproject relates, the type of industrial application being programmed(e.g., flow control, web tension control, a certain batch process,etc.), or other such aspects. Project generation component 206 canleverage guardrail templates 506 to implement rules-based programming,whereby programming feedback (a subset of design feedback 518) such asdynamic intelligent autocorrection, type-aheads, or coding suggestionsare rendered based on encoded industry expertise and best practices(e.g., identifying inefficiencies in code being developed andrecommending appropriate corrections).

Users can also run their own internal guardrail templates 506 againstcode provided by outside vendors (e.g., OEMs) to ensure that this codecomplies with in-house programming standards. In such scenarios,vendor-provided code can be submitted to the IDE system 202, and projectgeneration component 206 can analyze this code in view of in-housecoding standards specified by one or more custom guardrail templates506. Based on results of this analysis, user interface component 204 canindicate portions of the vendor-provided code (e.g., using highlights,overlaid text, etc.) that do not conform to the programming standardsset forth by the guardrail templates 506, and display suggestions formodifying the code in order to bring the code into compliance. As analternative or in addition to recommending these modifications, someembodiments of project generation component 206 can be configured toautomatically modify the code in accordance with the recommendations tobring the code into conformance.

In making coding suggestions as part of design feedback 518, projectgeneration component 206 can invoke selected code modules 508 stored ina code module database (e.g., on memory 220). These code modules 508comprise standardized coding segments for controlling common industrialtasks or applications (e.g., palletizing, flow control, web tensioncontrol, pick-and-place applications, conveyor control, etc.). In someembodiments, code modules 508 can be categorized according to one ormore of an industrial vertical (e.g., automotive, food and drug, oil andgas, textiles, marine, pharmaceutical, etc.), an industrial application,or a type of machine or device to which the code module 508 isapplicable. In some embodiments, project generation component 206 caninfer a programmer's current programming task or design goal based onprogrammatic input being provided by a the programmer (as a subset ofdesign input 512), and determine, based on this task or goal, whetherone of the pre-defined code modules 508 may be appropriately added tothe control program being developed to achieve the inferred task orgoal. For example, project generation component 206 may infer, based onanalysis of design input 512, that the programmer is currentlydeveloping control code for transferring material from a first tank toanother tank, and in response, recommend inclusion of a predefined codemodule 508 comprising standardized or frequently utilized code forcontrolling the valves, pumps, or other assets necessary to achieve thematerial transfer.

Customized guardrail templates 506 can also be defined to capturenuances of a customer site that should be taken into consideration inthe project design. For example, a guardrail template 506 could recordthe fact that the automation system being designed will be installed ina region where power outages are common, and will factor thisconsideration when generating design feedback 518; e.g., by recommendingimplementation of backup uninterruptable power supplies and suggestinghow these should be incorporated, as well as recommending associatedprogramming or control strategies that take these outages into account.

IDE system 202 can also use guardrail templates 506 to guide userselection of equipment or devices for a given design goal; e.g., basedon the industrial vertical, type of control application (e.g., sheetmetal stamping, die casting, palletization, conveyor control, webtension control, batch processing, etc.), budgetary constraints for theproject, physical constraints at the installation site (e.g., availablefloor, wall or cabinet space; dimensions of the installation space;etc.), equipment already existing at the site, etc. Some or all of theseparameters and constraints can be provided as design input 512, and userinterface component 204 can render the equipment recommendations as asubset of design feedback 518. In some embodiments, project generationcomponent 206 can also determine whether some or all existing equipmentcan be repurposed for the new control system being designed. Forexample, if a new bottling line is to be added to a production area,there may be an opportunity to leverage existing equipment since somebottling lines already exist. The decision as to which devices andequipment can be reused will affect the design of the new controlsystem. Accordingly, some of the design input 512 provided to the IDEsystem 202 can include specifics of the customer's existing systemswithin or near the installation site. In some embodiments, projectgeneration component 206 can apply artificial intelligence (AI) ortraditional analytic approaches to this information to determine whetherexisting equipment specified in design in put 512 can be repurposed orleveraged. Based on results of this analysis, project generationcomponent 206 can generate, as design feedback 518, a list of any newequipment that may need to be purchased based on these decisions.

In some embodiments, IDE system 202 can offer design recommendationsbased on an understanding of the physical environment within which theautomation system being designed will be installed. To this end,information regarding the physical environment can be submitted to theIDE system 202 (as part of design input 512) in the form of 2D or 3Dimages or video of the plant environment. This environmental informationcan also be obtained from an existing digital twin of the plant, or byanalysis of scanned environmental data obtained by a wearable ARappliance in some embodiments. Project generation component 206 cananalyze this image, video, or digital twin data to identify physicalelements within the installation area (e.g., walls, girders, safetyfences, existing machines and devices, etc.) and physical relationshipsbetween these elements. This can include ascertaining distances betweenmachines, lengths of piping runs, locations and distances of wiringharnesses or cable trays, etc. Based on results of this analysis,project generation component 206 can add context to schematics generatedas part of system project 302, generate recommendations regardingoptimal locations for devices or machines (e.g., recommending a minimumseparation between power and data cables), or make other refinements tothe system project 302. At least some of this design data can begenerated based on physics-based rules 516, which can be referenced byproject generation component 206 to determine such physical designspecifications as minimum safe distances from hazardous equipment (whichmay also factor into determining suitable locations for installation ofsafety devices relative to this equipment, given expected human orvehicle reaction times defined by the physics-based rules 516), materialselections capable of withstanding expected loads, piping configurationsand tuning for a specified flow control application, wiring gaugessuitable for an expected electrical load, minimum distances betweensignal wiring and electromagnetic field (EMF) sources to ensurenegligible electrical interference on data signals, or other such designfeatures that are dependent on physical rules.

In an example use case, relative locations of machines and devicesspecified by physical environment information submitted to the IDEsystem 202 can be used by the project generation component 206 togenerate design data for an industrial safety system. For example,project generation component 206 can analyze distance measurementsbetween safety equipment and hazardous machines and, based on thesemeasurements, determine suitable placements and configurations of safetydevices and associated safety controllers that ensure the machine willshut down within a sufficient safety reaction time to prevent injury(e.g., in the event that a person runs through a light curtain).

In some embodiments, project generation component 206 can also analyzephotographic or video data of an existing machine to determine inlinemechanical properties such as gearing or camming and factor thisinformation into one or more guardrail templates 506 or designrecommendations.

As noted above, the system project 302 generated by IDE system 202 for agiven automaton system being designed can be built upon an object-basedarchitecture that uses automation objects 222 as building blocks. FIG. 6is a diagram illustrating an example system project 302 thatincorporates automation objects 222 into the project model. In thisexample, various automation objects 222 representing analogousindustrial devices, systems, or assets of an automation system (e.g., aprocess, tanks, valves, pumps, etc.) have been incorporated into systemproject 302 as elements of a larger project data model 602. The projectdata model 602 also defines hierarchical relationships between theseautomation objects 222. According to an example relationship, a processautomation object representing a batch process may be defined as aparent object to a number of child objects representing devices andequipment that carry out the process, such as tanks, pumps, and valves.Each automation object 222 has associated therewith object properties orattributes specific to its corresponding industrial asset (e.g., thosediscussed above in connection with FIG. 4 ), including executablecontrol programming for controlling the asset (or for coordinating theactions of the asset with other industrial assets) and visualizationsthat can be used to render relevant information about the asset duringruntime.

At least some of the attributes of each automation object 222 aredefault properties defined by the IDE system 202 based on encodedindustry expertise pertaining to the asset represented by the objects.Other properties can be modified or added by the developer as needed(via design input 512) to customize the object 222 for the particularasset and/or industrial application for which the system projects 302 isbeing developed. This can include, for example, associating customizedcontrol code, HMI screens, AR presentations, or help files associatedwith selected automation objects 222. In this way, automation objects222 can be created and augmented as needed during design for consumptionor execution by target control devices during runtime.

Once development on a system project 302 has been completed,commissioning tools supported by the IDE system 202 can simplify theprocess of commissioning the project in the field. When the systemproject 302 for a given automation system has been completed, the systemproject 302 can be deployed to one or more target control devices forexecution. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating commissioning of a systemproject 302. Project deployment component 208 can compile or otherwisetranslate a completed system project 302 into one or more executablefiles or configuration files that can be stored and executed onrespective target industrial devices of the automation system (e.g.,industrial controllers 118, HMI terminals 114 or other types ofvisualization systems, motor drives 710, telemetry devices, visionsystems, safety relays, etc.).

Conventional control program development platforms require the developerto specify the type of industrial controller (e.g., the controller'smodel number) on which the control program will run prior todevelopment, thereby binding the control programming to a specifiedcontroller. Controller-specific guardrails are then enforced duringprogram development which limit how the program is developed given thecapabilities of the selected controller. By contrast, some embodimentsof the IDE system 202 can abstract project development from the specificcontroller type, allowing the designer to develop the system project 302as a logical representation of the automation system in a manner that isagnostic to where and how the various control aspects of system project302 will run. Once project development is complete and system project302 is ready for commissioning, the user can specify (via user interfacecomponent 204) target devices on which respective aspects of the systemproject 302 are to be executed. In response, an allocation engine of theproject deployment component 208 will translate aspects of the systemproject 302 to respective executable files formatted for storage andexecution on their respective target devices.

For example, system project 302 may include—among other projectaspects—control code, visualization screen definitions, and motor driveparameter definitions. Upon completion of project development, a usercan identify which target devices—including an industrial controller118, an HMI terminal 114, and a motor drive 710—are to execute orreceive these respective aspects of the system project 302. Projectdeployment component 208 can then translate the controller code definedby the system project 302 to a control program file 702 formatted forexecution on the specified industrial controller 118 and send thiscontrol program file 702 to the controller 118 (e.g., via plant network116). Similarly, project deployment component 208 can translate thevisualization definitions and motor drive parameter definitions to avisualization application 704 and a device configuration file 708,respectively, and deploy these files to their respective target devicesfor execution and/or device configuration.

In general, project deployment component 208 performs any conversionsnecessary to allow aspects of system project 302 to execute on thespecified devices. Any inherent relationships, handshakes, or datasharing defined in the system project 302 are maintained regardless ofhow the various elements of the system project 302 are distributed. Inthis way, embodiments of the IDE system 202 can decouple the projectfrom how and where the project is to be run. This also allows the samesystem project 302 to be commissioned at different plant facilitieshaving different sets of control equipment. That is, some embodiments ofthe IDE system 202 can allocate project code to different target devicesas a function of the particular devices found on-site. IDE system 202can also allow some portions of the project file to be commissioned asan emulator or on a cloud-based controller.

As an alternative to having the user specify the target control devicesto which the system project 302 is to be deployed, some embodiments ofIDE system 202 can actively connect to the plant network 116 anddiscover available devices, ascertain the control hardware architecturepresent on the plant floor, infer appropriate target devices forrespective executable aspects of system project 302, and deploy thesystem project 302 to these selected target devices. As part of thiscommissioning process, IDE system 202 can also connect to remoteknowledgebases (e.g., web-based or cloud-based knowledgebases) todetermine which discovered devices are out of date or require firmwareupgrade to properly execute the system project 302. In this way, the IDEsystem 202 can serve as a link between device vendors and a customer'splant ecosystem via a trusted connection in the cloud.

Copies of system project 302 can be propagated to multiple plantfacilities having varying equipment configurations using smartpropagation, whereby the project deployment component 208 intelligentlyassociates project components with the correct industrial asset orcontrol device even if the equipment on-site does not perfectly matchthe defined target (e.g., if different pump types are found at differentsites). For target devices that do not perfectly match the expectedasset, project deployment component 208 can calculate the estimatedimpact of running the system project 302 on non-optimal target equipmentand generate warnings or recommendations for mitigating expecteddeviations from optimal project execution.

As noted above, some embodiments of IDE system 202 can be embodied on acloud platform. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example architecturein which cloud-based IDE services 802 are used to develop and deployindustrial applications to a plant environment. In this example, theindustrial environment includes one or more industrial controllers 118,HMI terminals 114, motor drives 710, servers 801 running higher levelapplications (e.g., ERP, MES, etc.), and other such industrial assets.These industrial assets are connected to a plant network 116 (e.g., acommon industrial protocol network, an Ethernet/IP network, etc.) thatfacilitates data exchange between industrial devices on the plant floor.Plant network 116 may be a wired or a wireless network. In theillustrated example, the high-level servers 810 reside on a separateoffice network 108 that is connected to the plant network 116 (e.g.,through a router 808 or other network infrastructure device).

In this example, IDE system 202 resides on a cloud platform 806 andexecutes as a set of cloud-based IDE service 802 that are accessible toauthorized remote client devices 504. Cloud platform 806 can be anyinfrastructure that allows shared computing services (such as IDEservices 802) to be accessed and utilized by cloud-capable devices.Cloud platform 806 can be a public cloud accessible via the Internet bydevices 504 having Internet connectivity and appropriate authorizationsto utilize the IDE services 802. In some scenarios, cloud platform 806can be provided by a cloud provider as a platform-as-a-service (PaaS),and the IDE services 802 can reside and execute on the cloud platform806 as a cloud-based service. In some such configurations, access to thecloud platform 806 and associated IDE services 802 can be provided tocustomers as a subscription service by an owner of the IDE services 802.Alternatively, cloud platform 806 can be a private cloud operatedinternally by the industrial enterprise (the owner of the plantfacility). An example private cloud platform can comprise a set ofservers hosting the IDE services 802 and residing on a corporate networkprotected by a firewall.

Cloud-based implementations of IDE system 202 can facilitatecollaborative development by multiple remote developers who areauthorized to access the IDE services 802. When a system project 302 isready for deployment, the project 302 can be commissioned to the plantfacility via a secure connection between the office network 108 or theplant network 116 and the cloud platform 806. As discussed above, theindustrial IDE services 802 can translate system project 302 to one ormore appropriate executable files—control program files 702,visualization applications 704, device configuration files 708, systemconfiguration files 812—and deploy these files to the appropriatedevices in the plant facility to facilitate implementation of theautomation project.

As noted above in connection with FIG. 8 , some embodiments of IDEsystem 202 can reside on a cloud platform 806 and execute as a set ofcloud-based IDE service 802 that are accessible to authorized remoteclient devices 504. This allows multiple end users to access and utilizethe industrial IDE services 802 for development of industrial systemprojects 302. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating multi-tenancy of thecloud-based industrial IDE services 802 in which different remote clientdevices 504 a-504 c leverage the centralized industrial IDE services 802to individually submit design input 512 directed to a common systemproject 302. Using this architecture, multiple remote developers cansubmit design input 512 to a common industrial automation system project302, facilitating parallel development by multiple remote designers. Theindustrial IDE system 202 can support collaborative design tools thatmanage and regulate these diverse sets of design input 512 to ensureconsistency and optimization of the system project 302.

In this example, the industrial IDE services 802 are made accessible tomultiple authorized clients (associated with respective client devices504 a-504 c) in a secure manner Using respective design interfacesserved to the client devices 504 a-504 c by the IDE services 802,developers at each client device can interface with the IDE services 802to submit design input 512 a-512 c directed to a common industrialsystem project. As discussed above, IDE services 802 will generate andrender individual design feedback 518 a-518 c to each user's clientdevice 504 a-504 c as each user proceeds through their projectdevelopment workflow. System project 302 is securely stored on the cloudplatform 806 during development, and upon completion can be deployed tofrom the cloud platform 806 to the automation system devices that makeup the automation system from the cloud platform (as depicted in FIG. 8) or can be downloaded to a client device for localize deployment fromthe client device to one or more industrial devices. Since IDE services802 reside on a cloud-platform with access to internet-based resources,some embodiments of the IDE services 802 can also allow users to accessremote web-based knowledgebases, vendor equipment catalogs, or othersources of information that may assist in developing their industrialcontrol projects.

Cloud-based IDE services 802 can support true multi-tenancy across thelayers of authentication authorization, data segregation at the logicallevel, and network segregation at the logical level. End users canaccess the industrial IDE services 802 on the cloud platform 806, andeach end user's development data—including design input 512, designfeedback 518, and system projects 302—is encrypted such that each enduser can only view data associated with their own industrial enterprise.In an example implementation, an administrator of the cloud-basedindustrial IDE services 802 may maintain a master virtual private cloud(VPC) with appropriate security features, and each industrial enterprisecan be allocated a portion of this VPC for their own developer's accessto the IDE services 802. In an example embodiment, an encryptedmulti-protocol label switching (MPLS) channel can protect the entirecorpus of an end user's data such that the data can only be viewed byspecific computers or domains that have an appropriate certificate.

In some embodiments, IDE services 802 can permit different collaborativedevelopers working on the same system project 302 to independentlycustomize their version of the development platform interface asdesired, and to interface with the master copy of the system project 302with their own customized development interfaces. FIG. 10 is a diagramillustrating multi-tenancy of the cloud-based industrial IDE services802 in which each client device 504 is permitted to separately customizetheir own development environment interfaces 1004 a-1004 c. In thisexample architecture, each client device 504 a-504 c can separatelysubmit interface definition data 1002 a-1002 c to thereby separatelyconfigure their own customized development platform interfaces 1004a-1004 c and preferred forms of dynamic design feedback.

Also, in some embodiments, the look and available functionality offeredby a given instance of a development platform interface 1004 may be afunction of a role the developer accessing the IDE services 802, asdetermined by role or user identity information 1006 submitted by thedeveloper. In such embodiments, the subset of available IDEfunctionality to be made available to a given developer role may bedefined by user role definitions stored on the IDE system 202. The userinterface component 203 and IDE editor 224 can access these user roledefinitions in view of the role and/or user identity information 1006submitted by a developer to determine how that developer's customizedinterface 1004 should be customized In an example scenario, a developerhaving a lead developer role may be granted a broader set of developmentfeatures—e.g., design override privileges, the ability to track designcontributions of individual developers, etc.—relative to developershaving subsidiary roles. In another example, the set of guardrailtemplates 506 applied within a given user's customized interface 1004may be a function of the user's role, such that design modificationspermitted to be submitted by the user is regulated by predefinedguardrail templates 506 appropriate to the developer's role.

Collaborative tools supported by the IDE system 202 can manage designcontributions from the multiple collaborative developers and performversion control of the aggregate system project 302 to ensure projectconsistency. In the context of this collaborative design environment, inwhich different individuals or groups perform parallel development on acommon system project 302, there may be scenarios in which multipledevelopers submit design input 512 (e.g., control programming,visualization application development, device configuration settings,etc.) directed to the same portion of the system project 302. FIG. 11 isa diagram illustrating mediation or brokering between different sets ofdesign input directed to the same aspect of a system project 302according to some embodiments. In this example, multiple projectdevelopers working on development of a system project 302 for anindustrial automation system have submitted, as part of design input512, respective different, mutually exclusive versions of control code1102 a-1102 c to be included in the system project 302. These versionsof the control code 1102 may be, for example, alternative versions of aparticular control routine, custom automation object, or another aspectof the system project 302.

The IDE system's collaboration management component 210 can comparecontrol code 1102 submitted by multiple parties for the same code blockand select the one of the alternative sets of control code 1102 forintegration into the project. In this regard, collaboration managementcomponent 210 can apply any suitable criterion to select the preferredversion of the control code 1102. For example, in some embodimentscollaboration management component 210 can select the version of thecontrol code 1102 that performs the same control function with the leastlines of code. In another example, collaboration management component210 may select the version of the code that is estimated to control itsassociated mechanical asset with the least stress on the machinery. Inthis case, estimations of the amount of stress applied to the controlledindustrial assets can be determined by the collaboration managementcomponent 210 based on an analysis of the respective versions of thecontrol code 1102 in view of built-in industrial expertise regarding howthe respective control sequences will affect the mechanical assets.

For example, collaboration management component 210 may analyze eachversion of the control code 1102 to determine an estimated machine cyclefrequency that will result from execution of each version of the controlcode 1102. Since higher frequencies correlate to faster machine wear,collaboration management component 210 may select the version of thecontrol code 1102 that is estimated to perform the control function witha smallest machine cycle frequency without causing the productthroughput to fall below a defined minimum In another example,collaboration management component 210 may estimate expected ranges ofmotion of a mechanical asset (e.g., a motion device) that will beimplemented by each version of the control code 1102, or a number ofindividual mechanical motions that will be implemented by the respectiveversions of the control code 1102 to perform the same function, andselect the version of the control code that is expected to implement thecontrol function using the shortest motions or least number of motions.Other types of predictive control analysis and corresponding versionselection criteria are within the scope of one or more embodiments.Based on results of such analyses, collaboration management component210 can select one of the versions of the control code 1102 as being amost suitable version, and project generation component 206 willintegrate this selected version of the code 1104 into the system project302.

In some embodiments, collaboration management component 210 can leveragea simulation component 212 in connection with assessing the respectivedifferent versions of the control code 1102. Simulation component 212can be configured to simulate control of an automation system (or aportion thereof) by the respective versions of the control code 1102 andprovide results of the simulations to the collaboration managementcomponent 210, which selects the preferred version of the code 1104based on these results. Any of the example types of assessment analysesdescribed above may be performed using control simulations carried outby the simulation component 212. In some embodiments, simulationcomponent 212 can leverage a digital model of the automation system forwhich system project 302 is being developed in connection withsimulating the different versions of the control code 1102. FIG. 12 is adiagram illustrating interactions between a version of control code 1102being tested and an automation system model 1202. In this example, theIDE system's simulation component 212 acts as an industrial controlleremulator to execute control code 1102 (or control code portion) againstautomation system model 1202.

Automation system model 1202 can simulate various aspects of thephysical industrial automation system to be monitored and regulated bythe system project 302. Simulation component 212 can virtually interfacecontrol code 1102 with the automation system model 1202 to exchangevirtual I/O data in order to simulate real-world control. Automationsystem model 1202 mathematically models the system to be regulated bygenerating digital and analog I/O values representing, for example,sensor outputs, metering outputs, or other plant data analogous to thedata expected to be generated by the physical system being modeled.These inputs and outputs can be defined for each industrial asset by themodel 1202.

Simulation component 212 provides this simulated output data 1208 to thecontrol code 1102, which receives this data as one or more virtualphysical inputs. Control code 1102 processes these inputs according tothe developer's control programming and generates digital and/or analogcontroller output data 1206 based on the processing. This output data1206 represents the physical outputs that would be generated by acontroller executing control code 1102 and transmitted to the hardwiredfield devices comprising the automation system (e.g., PID loop controloutputs, solenoid energizing outputs, motor control outputs, etc.). Thecontroller output data 1206 is provided to the appropriate input pointsof the automation system model 1202, which updates the simulated outputdata 1208 accordingly.

Simulation component 212 can be configured to execute and monitor thissimulation and to quantify one or more performance criteria based onresults of the simulation that will be used by the collaborationmanagement component 210 to select a preferred version of the controlcode 1102 for inclusion in system project 302. These performancecriteria can include, for example, an amount of wear on the controlledmechanical equipment, an amount of energy consumed as a result ofcontrolling the automation system using the control code 1102, an amountof product throughput as a result of controlling the automation systemusing the control code 1102, an amount of maintenance required, or othersuch criteria.

In some embodiments, if two or more of the different versions of controlcode 1102 are not necessarily mutually exclusive but overlap in someareas, collaboration management component 210 can manage comparing andmerging the two or more versions within the master copy of the systemproject 302. This can include, for example, identifying and deletingredundant or identical code portions of the two or more versions,identifying competing versions of the same portion of control code andselecting a preferred version for inclusion in the system project 302,identifying conflicting control actions defined by two or more versionsand either recommending a modification to resolve the conflict orautomatically implementing the modification, or other such actions.

Although FIGS. 11 and 12 depicts the alternative design input as beingcontrol code 1102, collaboration management component 210 (with orwithout the assistance of simulation component 212) can also mediate orbroker between other types of project elements, including but notlimited to visualization aspects (e.g., HMI screens, AR/VR objects,etc.), device parameter settings, engineering drawings, etc.

Also, some embodiments of simulation component 212 can be configured toperform a risk analysis of a proposed update to the system project 302submitted via a developer's design input 512. For example, in responseto receipt of an update or revision to a portion of a control programincluded in the system project 302, simulation component 212 caninitiate a risk analysis of the proposed update to determine possibleramifications of the update. As part of this risk assessment, simulationcomponent 212 may perform a regression analysis on the system project302 as a whole to determine which other aspects of the system projectare likely to be affected by the proposed modification, and usesimulation techniques or other types of analysis to determine how theupdate will affect performance of these other related aspects. Based onresults of this analysis, the user interface component 204 may generatea message on the developer's interface 1004 warning of possible impactsof the modification on other portions of the system project 302, andprompt the user to acknowledge the warning prior to implementing thechange into the system project 302.

In some embodiments in which different developers are working onrespective different portions of the system project 302, the userinterface component 204 may also send warnings to selected otherdevelopers whose portions of the system project 302 are determined to beaffected by the initiating developer's proposed update. FIG. 13 is adiagram illustrating distribution of update notifications 1302 toselected developers in response to receipt of a proposed designmodification 1304 from another developer (the developer associated withclient devices 504 a in the illustrated example). As described above,submission of a design modification 1304 by a developer directed to aportion of the system project 302 can initiate a regression analysis onthe system project 302 to identify other portions of the system project302 that may be affected by the modification 1304. In variousembodiments, collaboration management component 210 can identify theaffected portions of the system project 302 based on learnedinterdependencies across the system project, including but not limitedto programmatic relationships or dependencies between control codesegments or routines, dependencies between control code segments andvisualization elements, dependencies between control code andengineering drawings (e.g., I/O drawings, electrical drawings, panellayout drawings, etc.), or other such relationships. Collaborationmanagement component 210 can also identify hierarchical relationshipsbetween automation objects and/or control code routines or modulesdefined by the project data model 602.

Based on these learned interdependencies, collaboration managementcomponent 210 can identify the portion of the system project 302 towhich the design modification 1304 is directed, and further identifyother portions of the system project 302 whose functions or responsesmay be affected by the design modifications. In embodiments in whichdifferent developers or groups of developers have been assigned to workon respective different portions or aspects of the system project 302,collaboration management component 210 can also identify the developersor groups who have been assigned to the affected portions of the systemproject 302, and user interface component 204 can send updatenotifications 1302 to the development interfaces 1004 associated withthese affected portions (e.g., interfaces associated with client devices504 b and 504 c in the illustrated example). These update notifications1302 can include descriptions of the proposed modification 1304, anindication of a possible impact on the recipient's portion of theproject 302, or other such information. In some embodiments,collaboration management component 210 may be configured to integratethe proposed design modification 1304 into the system project 302 onlyif all notification recipients submit an approval for the designmodification, based on their own determinations that the proposedmodification will not adversely affect their portions of the systemproject 302.

In some embodiments, collaboration management component 210 can also beconfigured to track and record each developer's design contributions tothe system project 302. This information can be used for auditingpurposes, to track developer productivity, to identify originators ofspecific design contributions, or for other purposes.

Collaboration management component 210 can also be configured to sharedevelopment notes submitted by the various developers via user interfacecomponent 204. These development notes can be submitted as part of thedesign input 512 and attached to specified portions of the systemproject 302 (e.g., a control code segment, a device configurationparameter setting, an engineering drawing element, etc.), such that whenother developers view a portion of the system project 302 to whichanother developer has attached a development note, the development notecan be selectively viewed. In some embodiments, elements of the systemproject 302 to which a development note has been attached can berepresented as a selectable icon located on or near the correspondingproject element, and selection of the icon can render the note forviewing.

In some embodiments, the collaborative editing environment supported bythe industrial IDE system can also encompass access to projectdevelopment experts in real-time during design. FIG. 14 is a diagramillustrating the use of IDE services as a proxy between a plant-basedproject developer and remote technical support personnel. In thisembodiment, industrial IDE services 802 include associated proxyservices 1308 (implemented by proxy component 214) that manageconnectivity and data exchange between a developer's client device 504and remote technical support. In cloud-based implementations, each enduser's system project 302 (e.g., a completed system project 302 for anautomation system currently in operation or a pending system project 302in development for an automation system to be commissioned) is securelymaintained on the cloud platform. Proxy services 1308 can permitauthorized technical support personnel (associated with client device1310) to access some or all of a given customer's system project datausing the IDE services 802 to proxy into the customer's data. Thetechnical support entity may be, for example, an administrator of theIDE services 802, an OEM who manufactures a machine for which controlprogramming is being developed, a system integrator, an equipmentvendor, or another such entity. In some embodiments, the end user canselectively permit access to a selected subset of their system projectdata, while prohibiting access to other portions of their system project302 from the technical support personnel, thereby protecting sensitiveor proprietary project information.

In an example scenario, project generation component 206 can infer,based on analysis of design input 512 and the system project 302 as awhole, the designer's current design goal (e.g., programming aparticular automation function, setting configuration parameter valuesfor a particular type of industrial device in connection with performingan automation function, etc.). Based on this inference of the user'sdesign intentions, collaboration management component 210 caninitiate—via proxy component 214—a communication channel to a live orautomated expert capable of assisting with the design goal.

In some embodiments, the IDE system 202 can establish connectivity withthe expert automatically in response to an inference that the developeris experiencing difficulty in developing a portion of the system project302 relating to the design goal. Alternatively, the IDE developmentinterface can include controls that allow the end user to submit anassistance request 1402 that initiates collaboration with the expert.The assistance request 1402 may specify a particular aspect of thesystem project 302 for which assistance is required (e.g., a controlcode routine, a visualization screen, device selection or compatibility,configuration of a specified industrial device, etc.). In someembodiments, proxy component 214 may perform additional processing onthe assistance request 1402 prior to sending a request to a remotesupport representative. Proxy component 214 can perform this additionalprocessing based in part on previously captured knowledge of the enduser's automation system in development, or the customer's larger plantfacility. For example, proxy component 214 can glean additionalcustomer-specific context that may assist in solving the design problemfor which assistance is being requested. Such context may includeadditional information about the devices and/or machines that make upthe automation system for which the system project 302 is beingdeveloped (e.g., identities of such devices, as well as their role inthe overall industrial system and their functional relationships to oneanother), other upstream or downstream processes relative to theautomation system being designed, whose operations may have an impact onoperation of the new automation system, etc. In response to receipt ofthe assistance request 1402, proxy component 214 can select an availabletechnical support person determined to be qualified to assist with therequest—e.g., based on information stored in competency profiles forrespective technical support people indicating each person's level oftraining, areas of expertise, equipment for which the person hasexperience, etc.—and open a remote communication channel to the selectedtechnical support person.

Once this communication channel is established, the technical supportperson can access, view, and modify selected subsets of customer projectdata 1404 (via customer support client device 1410) obtained from thesystem project 302. In some embodiments, user interface component 204can present the expert with a visualization of the designer's code,visualization application development screens, device configurationparameters, or other aspects of system project 302. The technicalsupport person can submit design assistance 1306 in the form of directmodifications to aspects of the end user's system project 302 (e.g.,control code rewrites, setting of device configurations, etc.) or designfeedback 1312 submitted to the end user recommending certainmodifications or otherwise providing design guidance. In someembodiments, the cloud-based IDE system 202 can also serve as a trustedproxy through which technical support personnel can remotely accessequipment at the end user's plant facility; e.g., for the purposes ofremotely configuring the user's devices, viewing or modifying controlprogramming on an industrial controller or visualization screens on anHMI terminal, etc.

Some embodiments of IDE system 202 can support submission of designinput 512 via a virtualized development environment served to a wearableappliance by the user interface component 204. This virtual developmentenvironment allows an automation system designer to submit design input512 via interaction with a virtual reality presentation of the plantfacility (e.g., the installation site at which the automation systemwill be installed). Using this approach, the IDE system 202 can generateportions of the system project 302—including but not limited to deviceselections, industrial control programming, device configurations,visualizations, engineering drawings, etc.—based on the developer'smanual interactions with the virtual reality presentation. Theseinteractions can include, for example, manual gestures that simulateplacing and moving machines or other industrial assets within thevirtualized environment, defining trajectories of motion devices orrobots using manual gestures, or other such interactive input. Theproject generation component can interpret the developer's interactionsand gestures as design specifications for the automation system beingdesigned and translates these interactions into control code,visualizations, device configurations, and other executable systemcomponents that satisfy the design specifications.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating example data flows associated withcreation of a system project 302 for an automation system based on auser's interactions with a VR presentation of a plant according to oneor more embodiments. In this example, a wearable AR/VR appliance 1510can interface with industrial IDE system 202 via user interfacecomponent 204, which may comprise a wired or wireless network interface,a near-field communication interface, or other such device interfacesuitable for the particular platform on which the IDE system 202 isimplemented. In some embodiments, user interface component 204 may beconfigured to verify an authorization of the wearable appliance 1510 toaccess the IDE system 202 prior to allowing VR presentations to bedelivered to the wearable appliance 1510. User interface component 204may authenticate the wearable appliance 1510 or its owner using passwordverification, biometric identification (e.g., retinal scan informationcollected from the user by the wearable appliance 1510 and submitted tothe user interface component 204), cross-referencing an identifier ofthe wearable appliance 1510 with a set of known authorized devices, orother such verification techniques.

In this embodiment, user interface component 204 has an associatedvirtual rendering component 216 configured to generate virtual realitypresentation data 1504 to wearable appliance 1510 for delivery by userinterface component 204. Presentation data 1504, when received andexecuted by wearable appliance 1510, renders an interactivethree-dimensional (3D) virtual reality presentation of an industrialarea on the wearable appliance's display. To facilitate generating avirtual representation of an industrial area (e.g., a portion of anindustrial facility in which the automation system being designed is tobe installed or modified), IDE system 202 can maintain one or more plantmodels 1502 that define a visual representation of the physical layoutof the area represented by the VR presentation data 1504. For example, aplant model 1502 for a given industrial area (e.g., a production area, aworkcell, an assembly line, etc.) can define graphical representationsof the industrial assets—including machines, conveyors, controlcabinets, and/or industrial devices—located within that area, as well asthe physical relationships between these industrial assets. For eachindustrial asset, the plant model 1502 can define physical dimensionsand colors for the asset, as well as any animation supported by thegraphical representation (e.g., color change animations, positionanimations that reflect movement of the asset, etc.). The plant models1502 also define the physical relationships between the industrialassets, including relative positions and orientations of the assets onthe plant floor, conduit or plumbing that runs between the assets, andother physical definitions.

In some embodiments, the plant model 1502 may be a digital twin of anexisting plant or may be generated based in part of such a digital twin.Also, in some embodiments, at least a portion of plant model 1502 may begenerated based on environmental properties of an installation areaextracted from video or image data. In such embodiments, informationregarding industrial assets, physical obstacles, distances, locations,or other environmental features discovered based on analysis of video orimage data can be fed to the plant model 1502 so that theseenvironmental features are represented in the model 1502.

A rendering engine supported by virtual rendering component 216 isconfigured to generate an interactive VR presentation of the industrialarea based on the industrial asset rendering definitions specified inthe plant model 1502. User interface component 204 delivers theresulting VR presentation to wearable appliance 1510 as VR presentationdata 1504.

FIG. 16 a is a partial rendition of an example virtual realitypresentation 1602 depicting a first-person perspective of an industrialarea, which can be generated by virtual rendering component 210. FIG. 16b is a rendition of another example virtual reality presentation 1604depicting an external perspective of an industrial area, which can alsobe generated by virtual rendering component 210. It is to be appreciatedthat, due to the constraints inherent in presenting virtual realitypresentations via two-dimensional drawings, the example VR presentationillustrated in FIGS. 11 a-11 b cannot fully depict the VR presentationsthat are rendered on suitable wearable appliances. In general, the VRpresentations rendered by wearable appliances 1510 provide surroundedvirtual renderings encompass the user's entire field of view, andtransition their line of sight or perspective as the user's location andorientation change. The partial renditions and associated descriptionsherein seek to convey the virtual reality renderings and interactions tothe degree possible given the limitations of two-dimensionalillustrations.

In some embodiments, virtual rendering component 216 can support bothexternal VR views of the industrial area from the perspective of aperson outside of the area (as in example presentation 1604), as well asfirst-person views of the area that simulate the user's presence withinthe industrial area by rendering a full-scale view of the area (as inexample presentation 1602). Users can selectively toggle between thesetwo types of views and provide design input by manually interacting witheither of the two views. Virtual rendering component 216 can streamup-to-date VR presentation data 1504 to wearable appliance 1510 toensure that the view—including the user's angle of perspective—remainscurrent. Virtual rendering component 216 renders industrial assets theVR presentation in accordance with rendering instructions defined by theplant model 1502. Industrial assets that can be rendered as virtualobjects within the VR presentation can include, but are not limited to,tanks 1606, conveyors 1608, machines 1610, industrial robots, safetygates, generators, industrial controllers or devices, or other suchassets.

The viewing perspective of the VR presentation generated by the virtualrendering component 216 is based on location and orientation data 1508received by IDE system 202 from the wearable appliances 1510. In thisregard, a location and orientation component of wearable appliance 1510can be configured to determine a current geographical location,orientation, and line of sight of the appliance 1510. In someembodiments, appliance 1510 can leverage global positioning system (GPS)technology to determine the user's absolute location, or may beconfigured to exchange data with positioning sensors in order todetermine the user's relative location. Wearable appliance 1510 can alsoinclude orientation sensing components that measure the wearableappliance's current orientation in terms of the direction of theappliance's line of sight, the angle of the appliance 1510 relative tohorizontal, etc. Other types of sensors or algorithms can be supportedby embodiments of the wearable appliance 1510 for determining a wearer'scurrent location and orientation, including but not limited to inertialmeasurement units (IMUs) or visual-inertial odometry (YID). The wearableappliance 1510 can report the location and orientation information tothe IDE system 202 as location and orientation data 1508.

Location and orientation data 1508 is used by virtual renderingcomponent 216 to control the point of view of the VR presentation. Forexample, a user may be viewing a VR presentation of an industrial area(e.g., the first-person presentation depicted in FIG. 16 a or theexternal presentation depicted in FIG. 16 b ) via the user's wearableappliance 1510. Virtual rendering component 216 receives location andorientation data 1508 generated by the user's wearable appliance 1510and renders the presentation in accordance with the user's currentlocation and orientation. In particular, the direction and angle of theviewing perspective of the VR presentation is a function of the user'slocation and orientation.

In contrast to the first-person view (e.g., presentation 1602 of FIG. 16a ), the external view generated by IDE system 202 (e.g., presentation1604 of FIG. 16 b ) renders the industrial area as a virtual down-scaledmodel of the area, and allows the user to move around and interact withthe scaled version of the area. As the user moves around, toward, oraway from the virtual scaled industrial area, the wearable appliance1510 streams updated location and orientation data 1008 to the IDEsystem 202, which updates the VR presentation data 1504 substantiallycontinuously to simulate the effect of walking around a scale model ofthe production area.

Returning to FIG. 15 , IDE system 202 can generate at least a portion ofsystem project 302—including program code, visualizations, deviceconfigurations, device configurations, engineering drawings, bills ofmaterials, etc.—based on VR interaction data 1506 generated by wearableappliance 1510 representing the user's manual interactions with one orboth of the first-person VR presentation or the external VR presentationgenerated by virtual rendering component 216. For example, once the VRpresentation of a production area is rendered on wearable appliance1510, the wearer of appliance 1510 (e.g., a system designer) canmanually interact with the rendered VR environment to select and placenew industrial devices, machines, equipment, or other industrial assets(e.g., pumps, valves, conduit, safety guarding, etc.) within the virtualenvironment. To this end, some embodiments of user interface component204 can render, as overlays within the VR presentation, menus from whichvarious types of industrial assets can be selected (e.g., controllers,motor drives, vats, pumps, valves, industrial robots, conveyor,machining stations, die case furnaces, etc.). The wearer of appliance1510 can manually interact with these menus using gestures within the VRpresentation to select digital representations of desired assets andplace the assets at selected locations within the VR environment (e.g.,by performing a manual hold and place action). Virtual iconsrepresenting the industrial assets can be oriented, moved from onelocation to another, or removed from the virtual environment usingappropriate gestures relative to the virtual assets (e.g., by performinggestures that simulate manually manipulating the virtual assets withinthe environment). The user's interactions within the VR environment aremonitored by the wearable appliance 1510 and sent to the IDE system 202as VR interaction data 1506.

Within the IDE environment, industrial assets added or moved in thismanner can be represented by automation objects 222 corresponding tothose assets (e.g., a tank automation object, a valve automation object,etc.). When a user adds a new industrial asset to the VR environment,project generation component 206 can identify the newly added asset andadd an appropriate automation object 222 corresponding to the asset tothe system project 302. As in other examples described above, theautomation object 222 can be selected from the library 502 of standardautomation objects maintained by the IDE system 202. Project generationcomponent 206 can also generate sequencing control code for these assetsas they are added and linked together within the virtual designenvironment, where this sequencing code may be based in part oncorresponding predefined code modules 508 corresponding to the asset orcontrol code associated with the automation objects 222 themselves.

In other example interactions, the user may act out, in gestures,motions that a new robot or other type of motion device is to perform.For example, the user may perform gestures that manually tracetrajectories or motions to be carried out by a robot to facilitatepicking and moving a part from a first location to a second location, ormay perform gestures indicating a path of motion to be traversed by amotion device during a work cycle. In another example, the user mayperform a manual gesture indicating that water is to be pumped from onespecified tank to another tank. In response to such actions by thedesigner—reported as VR interaction data 1506 by the wearable appliance1510—project generation component 206 will update the system project 302by generating suitable code, device configurations, drawings, andvisualizations that support these design goals and specifications.

Design interaction with the VR environment can be carried out withineither the first-person perspective view (e.g., FIG. 16 a ) or theexternal view (e.g., FIG. 16 b ). In general, the first-person view mayallow the designer to more easily perform design interactions directedto a specific production line or machine; e.g., by adding conveyors,machines, pumps, values, etc. Interactive inputs directed tolarger-scale design aspects may be more easily performed using theexternal view. Design interactions that may be suitably performed usingthe external view may include, for example, adding duplicated instancesof industrial robots or other industrial assets to respective multipleproduction areas (e.g., duplicated machines 1612 a-1612 d in productionareas 1614 a-1614 d, as illustrated in FIG. 16 b ), moving industrialassets between production areas, or other such design actions. To add ormove assets between production areas, the wearer of appliance 1510 canperform manual gestures relative to the external, down-scaled view ofthe production area to simulate grabbing, moving, and placing assetswithin the smaller virtual model of the plant facility.

Returning to FIG. 14 , in embodiments of the IDE system 202 that supportthe virtual development environment described above in connection withFIGS. 15-16 b, the user interface component 204—via proxy component214—can share the developer's virtual development environment with thetechnical support assistant (via a wearable AR/VR appliance worn by thetechnical expert). Sharing the virtualized design environment in thismanner simulates the simultaneous presence of the technical expert andthe developer within the virtualized environment, such that eachparticipant sees the other as a human icon (e.g., icon 1616). Thisallows the remote technical expert to demonstrate, within thevirtualized environment, recommended approaches for designing portionsof the automation system (e.g., placement or configuration of industrialcontrol devices, placement of machines, etc.).

Similarly, the industrial IDE system 202 may also provide a platform fora user-based community of automation project developers who can interactto share solutions to development problems. In the case of the virtualdesign environments described above, designers can elect to share theirview of their virtual design environment with other users to improve thecollaborative design experience. For example, a developer at onelocation working on a system project 302 may share his or hervirtualized view of the installation environment with another user atanother location, allowing the other user to view a proposed design andoffer supplemental design recommendations. In some embodiments, the IDEsystem 202 can allow a developer's virtual view to be shared not onlywith other developers working on the same project 302, but also withusers associated with other industrial enterprises who may haveexperience with the type of system being designed. The IDE system canimplement appropriate security features to ensure that users at a firstenterprise do not share sensitive proprietary system information withusers at other enterprises, while still allowing a managed degree ofinformation sharing to facilitate crowdsourced development assistance.

FIGS. 17-18 illustrate various methodologies in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the subject application. While, for purposes ofsimplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies shown hereinare shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood andappreciated that the subject innovation is not limited by the order ofacts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a differentorder and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and describedherein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand andappreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as aseries of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement amethodology in accordance with the innovation. Furthermore, interactiondiagram(s) may represent methodologies, or methods, in accordance withthe subject disclosure when disparate entities enact disparate portionsof the methodologies. Further yet, two or more of the disclosed examplemethods can be implemented in combination with each other, to accomplishone or more features or advantages described herein.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example methodology 1700 for managing designcontributions from multiple developers of an industrial automationsystem project. Initially at 1702, industrial IDE interfaces arerendered on respective client devices associated with different systemdevelopers who are developing an automation system project in acollaborative manner. At 1704, industrial design data is received froman automation system project via interactions with the IDE developmentinterfaces. The industrial design data can be submitted in the form ofone or more of industrial controller programming (e.g., ladder logic,sequential function charts, scripted control code such as an industrialDSL, etc.), HMI screen development input, industrial device or equipmentselections, engineering drawing input, etc. In some embodiments, theindustrial design data can also include completed engineering drawings(e.g., P&ID drawings, electrical drawings, mechanical drawings, etc.),which can be parsed and analyzed by the industrial IDE to identifycomponents of the industrial automation system being designed (e.g.,industrial devices, machines, equipment, conduit, piping, etc.) as wellas functional and physical relationships between these components.

At 1706, a determination is made as to whether multiple versions ofdesign data for the same aspect of the system project is received. Thesemultiple versions may be, for example, different versions of a portionof industrial control code directed to control of the same industrialasset, different versions of a visualization application for theautomation system, different sets of configuration parameter settingsfor the same industrial device, or other such design data.

If multiple versions of design data for the same aspect are received(YES at step 1706), the methodology proceeds to step 1708, wherecomparative analysis is performed on the multiple versions of the designdata received at step 1704, where the comparative analysis determinesrelative suitability metrics for the multiple versions. For example, inthe case of multiple versions of control programming, this comparativeanalysis may estimate an estimated machine cycle frequency that willresult from execution of each version of the control programming,expected ranges of motion of a mechanical asset that will be implementedby each version of the control programming, a number of individualmechanical motions that will be implemented by the respective versionsof the control programming, or other such performance estimates. Othertypes of relative performance metrics are also within the scope of oneor more embodiments.

At 1710, a version of the design data is selected for inclusion into thesystem project based on the relative suitability metrics obtained atstep 1708. For example, in the case of the multiple control programmingversions described above, the IDE system may select the version of thecontrol programming expected to carry out its control function in amanner that causes the controlled assets to sustain the least amount ofwear while still satisfying a production goal. Other selection criteriaare also within the scope of one or more embodiments. At 1712, theselected version of the design data is integrated into the systemproject.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example methodology 1800 for notifying developersof modifications to an automation system project within a collaborativedevelopment environment. Initially, at 1802, industrial IDE developmentinterfaces are rendered on respective client devices associated withrespective different developers who are collaboratively developing anautomation system project. At 1804, industrial design data for theautomation system project is received via interactions with the IDEdevelopment interfaces.

AT 1806, a determination is made as to whether a modification to anaspect of the system project is received from a first system developervia one of the IDE development interfaces. If such a modification isreceived (YES at step 1806), the methodology proceeds to step 1808,where a determination is made as to whether the modification isdetermined to affect other aspects of the system project. In someembodiments, this determination can be made based on a regressionanalysis performed on the system project as a whole to determine whichother aspects of the system project are likely to be affected by theproposed modification.

If the modification is determined to affect other aspects of the systemproject (YES at step 1808), the methodology proceeds to step 1810, wherenotifications of the modification are delivered to one or more secondsystem developers assigned to work on the other aspects of the systemproject via their respective development interfaces. At 1812, adetermination is made as to whether approval for the modification isreceived from the one or more system developers. In this regard, the IDEsystem may require collaborative agreement that a modification made to aportion of the system project by one developer will not adversely affectother portions of the system project being designed by other developers.If approval for the modification is received from all of the one or moresecond developers (YES at step 1812), the modification is integratedinto the system project.

Embodiments, systems, and components described herein, as well ascontrol systems and automation environments in which various aspects setforth in the subject specification can be carried out, can includecomputer or network components such as servers, clients, programmablelogic controllers (PLCs), automation controllers, communicationsmodules, mobile computers, on-board computers for mobile vehicles,wireless components, control components and so forth which are capableof interacting across a network. Computers and servers include one ormore processors—electronic integrated circuits that perform logicoperations employing electric signals—configured to execute instructionsstored in media such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), a hard drives, as well as removable memory devices, which caninclude memory sticks, memory cards, flash drives, external hard drives,and so on.

Similarly, the term PLC or automation controller as used herein caninclude functionality that can be shared across multiple components,systems, and/or networks. As an example, one or more PLCs or automationcontrollers can communicate and cooperate with various network devicesacross the network. This can include substantially any type of control,communications module, computer, Input/Output (I/O) device, sensor,actuator, and human machine interface (HMI) that communicate via thenetwork, which includes control, automation, and/or public networks. ThePLC or automation controller can also communicate to and control variousother devices such as standard or safety-rated I/O modules includinganalog, digital, programmed/intelligent I/O modules, other programmablecontrollers, communications modules, sensors, actuators, output devices,and the like.

The network can include public networks such as the internet, intranets,and automation networks such as control and information protocol (CIP)networks including DeviceNet, ControlNet, safety networks, andEthernet/IP. Other networks include Ethernet, DH/DH+, Remote I/O,Fieldbus, Modbus, Profibus, CAN, wireless networks, serial protocols,and so forth. In addition, the network devices can include variouspossibilities (hardware and/or software components). These includecomponents such as switches with virtual local area network (VLAN)capability, LANs, WANs, proxies, gateways, routers, firewalls, virtualprivate network (VPN) devices, servers, clients, computers,configuration tools, monitoring tools, and/or other devices.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIGS. 19 and 20 as well as the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitableenvironment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject mattermay be implemented. While the embodiments have been described above inthe general context of computer-executable instructions that can run onone or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that theembodiments can be also implemented in combination with other programmodules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, Internet of Things (IoT)devices, distributed computing systems, as well as personal computers,hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, and the like, each of which can be operativelycoupled to one or more associated devices.

The illustrated embodiments herein can be also practiced in distributedcomputing environments where certain tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network. Ina distributed computing environment, program modules can be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media, machine-readable storage media,and/or communications media, which two terms are used herein differentlyfrom one another as follows. Computer-readable storage media ormachine-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media or machine-readablestorage media can be implemented in connection with any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readable ormachine-readable instructions, program modules, structured data orunstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can include, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD) or other optical disk storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, solid state drives or other solid statestorage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitory media which canbe used to store desired information. In this regard, the terms“tangible” or “non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changedin such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 19 the example environment 1900 forimplementing various embodiments of the aspects described hereinincludes a computer 1902, the computer 1902 including a processing unit1904, a system memory 1906 and a system bus 1908. The system bus 1908couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 1906 to the processing unit 1904. The processing unit 1904 can beany of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessorsand other multi-processor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 1904.

The system bus 1908 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1906includes ROM 1910 and RAM 1912. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer1902, such as during startup. The RAM 1912 can also include a high-speedRAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1902 further includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1914 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), one or more external storage devices 1916(e.g., a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1916, a memory stick or flashdrive reader, a memory card reader, etc.) and an optical disk drive 1920(e.g., which can read or write from a CD-ROM disc, a DVD, a BD, etc.).While the internal HDD 1914 is illustrated as located within thecomputer 1902, the internal HDD 1914 can also be configured for externaluse in a suitable chassis (not shown). Additionally, while not shown inenvironment 1900, a solid state drive (SSD) could be used in additionto, or in place of, an HDD 1914. The HDD 1914, external storagedevice(s) 1916 and optical disk drive 1920 can be connected to thesystem bus 1908 by an HDD interface 1924, an external storage interface1926 and an optical drive interface 1928, respectively. The interface1924 for external drive implementations can include at least one or bothof Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other externaldrive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 1902, the drives andstorage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digitalformat. Although the description of computer-readable storage mediaabove refers to respective types of storage devices, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of storagemedia which are readable by a computer, whether presently existing ordeveloped in the future, could also be used in the example operatingenvironment, and further, that any such storage media can containcomputer-executable instructions for performing the methods describedherein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1912,including an operating system 1930, one or more application programs1932, other program modules 1934 and program data 1936. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1912. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

Computer 1902 can optionally comprise emulation technologies. Forexample, a hypervisor (not shown) or other intermediary can emulate ahardware environment for operating system 1930, and the emulatedhardware can optionally be different from the hardware illustrated inFIG. 19 . In such an embodiment, operating system 1930 can comprise onevirtual machine (VM) of multiple VMs hosted at computer 1902.Furthermore, operating system 1930 can provide runtime environments,such as the Java runtime environment or the .NET framework, forapplication programs 1932. Runtime environments are consistent executionenvironments that allow application programs 1932 to run on anyoperating system that includes the runtime environment. Similarly,operating system 1930 can support containers, and application programs1932 can be in the form of containers, which are lightweight,standalone, executable packages of software that include, e.g., code,runtime, system tools, system libraries and settings for an application.

Further, computer 1902 can be enable with a security module, such as atrusted processing module (TPM). For instance with a TPM, bootcomponents hash next in time boot components, and wait for a match ofresults to secured values, before loading a next boot component. Thisprocess can take place at any layer in the code execution stack ofcomputer 1902, e.g., applied at the application execution level or atthe operating system (OS) kernel level, thereby enabling security at anylevel of code execution.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1902 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 1938, a touchscreen 1940, and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1942. Other inputdevices (not shown) can include a microphone, an infrared (IR) remotecontrol, a radio frequency (RF) remote control, or other remote control,a joystick, a virtual reality controller and/or virtual reality headset,a game pad, a stylus pen, an image input device, e.g., camera(s), agesture sensor input device, a vision movement sensor input device, anemotion or facial detection device, a biometric input device, e.g.,fingerprint or iris scanner, or the like. These and other input devicesare often connected to the processing unit 1904 through an input deviceinterface 1944 that can be coupled to the system bus 1908, but can beconnected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, a BLUETOOTH®interface, etc.

A monitor 1944 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 1908 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1948. Inaddition to the monitor 1944, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1902 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1948. The remotecomputer(s) 1948 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1902, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1950 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted includewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1952 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 1954. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1902 can beconnected to the local network 1952 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1956. The adapter 1956 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1952, which canalso include a wireless access point (AP) disposed thereon forcommunicating with the adapter 1956 in a wireless mode.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1902 can includea modem 1958 or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN1954 via other means for establishing communications over the WAN 1954,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1958, which can be internal orexternal and a wired or wireless device, can be connected to the systembus 1908 via the input device interface 1942. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1902 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1950. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

When used in either a LAN or WAN networking environment, the computer1902 can access cloud storage systems or other network-based storagesystems in addition to, or in place of, external storage devices 1916 asdescribed above. Generally, a connection between the computer 1902 and acloud storage system can be established over a LAN 1952 or WAN 1954e.g., by the adapter 1956 or modem 1958, respectively. Upon connectingthe computer 1902 to an associated cloud storage system, the externalstorage interface 1926 can, with the aid of the adapter 1956 and/ormodem 1958, manage storage provided by the cloud storage system as itwould other types of external storage. For instance, the externalstorage interface 1926 can be configured to provide access to cloudstorage sources as if those sources were physically connected to thecomputer 1902.

The computer 1902 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, store shelf, etc.), and telephone. This can include WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computing environment2000 with which the disclosed subject matter can interact. The samplecomputing environment 2000 includes one or more client(s) 2002. Theclient(s) 2002 can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The sample computing environment 2000also includes one or more server(s) 2004. The server(s) 2004 can also behardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices).The servers 2004 can house threads to perform transformations byemploying one or more embodiments as described herein, for example. Onepossible communication between a client 2002 and servers 2004 can be inthe form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or morecomputer processes. The sample computing environment 2000 includes acommunication framework 2006 that can be employed to facilitatecommunications between the client(s) 2002 and the server(s) 2004. Theclient(s) 2002 are operably connected to one or more client datastore(s) 2008 that can be employed to store information local to theclient(s) 2002. Similarly, the server(s) 2004 are operably connected toone or more server data store(s) 2010 that can be employed to storeinformation local to the servers 2004.

What has been described above includes examples of the subjectinnovation. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methodologies for purposes of describingthe disclosed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the subjectinnovation are possible. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., a functional equivalent), even though not structurallyequivalent to the disclosed structure, which performs the function inthe herein illustrated exemplary aspects of the disclosed subjectmatter. In this regard, it will also be recognized that the disclosedsubject matter includes a system as well as a computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions for performing the acts and/orevents of the various methods of the disclosed subject matter.

In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosed subject mattermay have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “includes,” and “including” and variants thereof are used ineither the detailed description or the claims, these terms are intendedto be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

In this application, the word “exemplary” is used to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques. The term “article of manufacture” as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computerreadable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storagedevices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), opticaldisks [e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ],smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . .. ).

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for collaboratively developingindustrial applications, comprising: a memory that stores executablecomponents; and a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, thatexecutes the executable components, the executable componentscomprising: a user interface component configured to render integrateddevelopment environment (IDE) interfaces on respective client devicesand to receive, via interaction with the IDE interfaces, industrialdesign input that defines aspects of an industrial automation controlproject; a project generation component configured to generate systemproject data based on the industrial design input; and a collaborationmanagement component configured to perform brokering between multiplesets of the industrial design input submitted via different clientdevices of the client devices, and integrate a selected subset of thesets of the industrial design input in the system project data based onresults of the brokering.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiplesets of the industrial design input comprise alternate versions ofdesign input directed to a same aspect of the industrial automationcontrol project, the collaboration management component is configured toselect one of the alternate versions of the design input for inclusionin the system project data based on a comparison of the alternateversions relative to a defined selection criterion, and the projectgeneration component is configured to integrate the one of the alternateversions of the design input into the system project data.
 3. The systemof claim 2, wherein the alternate versions of the design input areindustrial control code segments designed to perform a control function,and the collaboration management component is configured to select, asthe one of the alternate versions of the design input, one of theindustrial control code segments that is at least one of determined toperform the control function using a least amount of code, estimated tosubject a controlled industrial asset to a least amount of mechanicalwear, or estimated to perform the control function using a fewest numberof mechanical movements.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein thecollaboration management component is configured to select the one ofthe alternate versions of the design input based on results ofrespective simulations performed on the alternate versions of the designinput.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the collaboration component isfurther configured to, in response to receipt of industrial design inputfrom a first client device associated with a first user defining amodification to a first aspect of the system project data, determinewhether the modification will affect one or more second aspects of theindustrial automation control project, and the user interface componentis further configured to, in response to a determination by thecollaboration component that the modification will affect the one ormore second aspects, deliver notifications to one or more second clientdevices associated with users assigned to develop the one or more secondaspects of the industrial automation control project.
 6. The system ofclaim 5, wherein the collaboration component is configured to perform aregression analysis on the system project data to determineinterdependencies between aspects of the system project data, and todetermine whether the modification will affect the one or more secondaspects based on the interdependencies learned by the regressionanalysis.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface componentis configured to customize the IDE interfaces on the respective clientdevices in accordance with defined roles of users associated with therespective client devices.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the definedroles include at least a lead developer role, the user interfacecomponent is configured to render, on a client device associated withthe developer role, an IDE interface that at least one of permits designoverride privileges or tracks design contributions submitted bydevelopers associated with other roles.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein at least one of the client devices is a wearable virtual reality(VR) appliance, the executable components further comprise a virtualrendering component configured to render an interactivethree-dimensional virtual reality (VR) representation of an industrialfacility on the VR appliance, the user interface component is configuredto receive VR interaction data representing manual interactions of awearer of the VR appliance with the VR representation of the industrialfacility, the manual interactions indicative of design input thatdefines aspects of the industrial automation system, and the projectgeneration component is configured to translate the VR interaction datainto a portion of the system project data satisfying the design input.10. The system of claim 9, wherein the executable components furthercomprise a proxy component configured to share the interactivethree-dimensional VR representation with another VR appliance associatedwith a technical support person.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein thecollaboration component is further configured to at least one of mergetwo overlapping sets of design input received from respective two clientdevices into the system project data, identify and delete redundantportions of the system project data, or render a recommendation via oneor more of the IDE interfaces for resolving a conflict between two ormore sets of the industrial design input.
 12. A method for collaborativedevelopment of industrial control applications, comprising: rendering,by a system comprising a processor, integrated development environment(IDE) interfaces on respective client devices; receiving, by the systemvia interaction with the IDE interfaces, industrial design inputreceived from the client devices that defines aspects of an industrialcontrol and monitoring project; generating, by the system, systemproject data based on the industrial design input; selecting, by thesystem, from among multiple sets of the industrial design inputsubmitted via the respective client devices, a subset of the sets of theindustrial design input to be integrated into the system project data;and integrating, by the system, the subset of the sets of the industrialdesign input into the system project data.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the receiving comprises receiving alternate versions of theindustrial design input directed to a same aspect of the industrialcontrol and monitoring project, the selecting comprises selecting one ofthe alternate versions of the industrial design input for inclusion inthe system project data based on a comparison of the alternate versionsrelative to a defined selection criterion, and the generating comprisesintegrating the one of the alternate versions of the industrial designinput into the system project data.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinthe alternate versions of the industrial design input are industrialcontrol code segments designed to perform a control function, and theselecting comprises at least one of determining which of the industrialcode segments are estimated to perform the control function using aleast amount of programming, estimating which of the industrial codesegments will perform the control function in a manner that subjects t acontrolled industrial asset to a least amount of mechanical wear, orestimating which of the industrial code segments will perform thecontrol function using a fewest number of mechanical movements.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the selecting comprises selecting one of thealternate versions of the industrial design input based on results ofrespective simulations performed on the alternate versions of theindustrial design input.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:in response to receipt of industrial design input from a first clientdevice associated with a first user defining a modification to a firstaspect of the system project data, determining, by the system, one ormore second aspects of the industrial control and monitoring projectaffected by the modification, and rendering, by the system,notifications of the modifications on one or more second client devicesassociated with users assigned to develop the one or more second aspectsof the industrial control and monitoring project.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising performing, by the system, a regressionanalysis on the system project data to determine interdependenciesbetween aspects of the system project data, wherein the determining theone or more second aspects of the industrial control and monitoringproject affected by the modification comprises determining the one ormore second aspects based on the interdependencies learned by theregression analysis.
 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the renderingcomprises customizing the IDE interfaces on the respective clientdevices in accordance with defined roles of users associated with therespective client devices.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, causea system comprising a processor to perform operations, the operationscomprising: rendering integrated development environment (IDE)interfaces on respective client devices; receiving, via interaction withthe IDE interfaces, industrial design input received from the clientdevices that defines aspects of an industrial automation project;generating system project data based on the industrial design input;brokering between multiple sets of the industrial design input submittedvia the respective client devices; and integrating a selected subset ofthe multiple sets of the industrial design input based on a result ofthe brokering.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim19, wherein the receiving comprises receiving alternate versions of theindustrial design input directed to a same aspect of the industrialautomation project, the selecting comprises selecting one of thealternate versions of the industrial design input for inclusion in thesystem project data based on a comparison of the alternate versionsrelative to a defined selection criterion, and the generating comprisesintegrating the one of the alternate versions of the industrial designinput into the system project data.